MLB Home Run Derby 2013: Winner, Twitter Reaction and Highlights

The Oakland Athletics slugger got off to a dominant start to roll into the finals against the Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper, where he outslugged Harper in the championship round, 9-8.

The Cuban-born outfielder hit 17, six and nine in each round and his 32 total home runs tied for the third-highest home run total in derby history behind only Bobby Abreu's 41 in 2005 and Josh Hamilton's 35 in 2008.

The matchup between Cespedes and the 20-year old Harper was an unlikely one. Cespedes is hitting just .225 this season with 15 home runs and Harper carries a .264 batting average with 13 homers. As ESPN's Numbers Never Lie tweeted out, the duo also entered the contest with the fewest career home runs among all the contestants. But that didn't stop either from outslugging the competition.

Yoenis Cespedes (38) & Bryce Harper (35) have the fewest career HR among #HRDerby participants, but those are your finalists!

Harper was consistent throughout the night hitting eight home runs in each round. However, it wasn't enough to keep the hard-hitting Cespedes from claiming the title.

Defending champion Prince Fielder started the competition off slowly, hitting just five home runs to open up the first round. However, the disappointing number was highlighted by a 483-foot bomb that thoroughly impressed Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Mike Trout:

GIF via Tristan Thornburgh of Bleacher Report

That home run wouldn't be enough to advance the Tigers star to the next round as he was surprisingly the first contestant to be eliminated.

Michael Cuddyer came up next. He was attempting to be the oldest player to win the event since David Ortiz in 2010, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Michael Cuddyer (34 years, 110 days) is oldest participant in 2013 #HRDerby. Oldest to win was David Ortiz (34 years, 236 days) in 2010

Cuddyer registered seven home runs to punch his ticket to the second round.

The real highlight of the first round was YoenisCespedes though. As ESPN Stats & Info pointed out, he entered the derby with the longest average distance per home run this season. So it was safe to assume he'd hit some moon shots.

Yoenis Cespedes: Average HR distance of 407.9 feet this season (highest among HR Derby participants)

He went upper deck on his second home run and consistently set the ball in flight. He ended up with 17 first round home runs. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was the third most home runs ever hit in the first round.

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Pedro Alvarez would join Prince Fielder as the second hitter to be eliminated in the first round, but not before he hit a bomb that was measured at 461 feet, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Major League home run leader Chris Davis would come up next and, as expected, put on a show. Davis hit eight first round home runs and showed that he has power to all fields. ESPN's Baseball Tonight tweeted out his spray chart:

Cuddyer would rally with just three outs left to hit five more home runs to take his total to 15. A number that wouldn't be enough to make the final.

Chris Davis would wind up joining Cuddyer on the list of players that didn't make the final. But not before showing once again that he's the best at hitting home runs to the opposite field, per ESPN's Jayson Stark.

Chris Davis hits back-to-back opposite-field bombs. Don't know if I've ever seen that in a Derby.

Bryce Harper would emerge as a worthy adversary to Cespedes in the second round. He launched five home runs in a row at one point according to Mark Zuckerman of CSN. As Stark pointed out, he never went more than three pitches without hitting a home run.

Cespedes' 17 first round home runs were enough to advance him to the second round, but he decided to go to the plate anyway, needing just five home runs to give the American League the team victory. He accomplished that by hitting six and setting up the final duel with Harper.